A lot happened that night.
The error in judgment of Jiang Chen’s ability made the CIB pay a heavy price.
The error in judgment to Jiang Chen's reaction caused the General Staff Department to lose Jiang Chen’s whereabouts.
Who would have thought an ordinary person would suddenly become a fully equipped "Ironman" like a superhero in the Hollywood movie? Who would have thought the "obedient" individual would suddenly express anger, "Sorry, I’m not your subordinate"?
From God’s perspective, the focal point of the clues revolved around the man called Jiang Chen. But because of the blind spots of each party’s intelligence, as well as the context that the two sides would never sit around a table to exchange information, the CIB and the General Staff Department were both tricked in this one incident.Regardless of how anxious the General Staff Department was about Jiang Chen’s disappearance, a person across the Pacific was also in a state of anxiety.
It was still midnight in Hua, daylight on the other side of the earth.
It was the Rainbow Mansion of UA.
Right now, John Brennan stood awkwardly in front of the President’s table, but his previous aggressive stance was long gone. Normally, he would not put aside his pride and just stand here in front of the president of the UA because CIB was independent of the intelligence system. Even the Congress had no rights to ask for specific details. From this point alone, he lived a much better life than the current president who constantly receives pressure from the Congress.
Beside John, James Komi was gloating. Compared to the bald old man, the only 35 years old middle-aged man looked sharper. Nothing made him more delighted than his opposition suffering.
That’s right, while they served the same government, the two organizations didn’t have the best relationship.
Therefore, the past UA presidents had a love and hate relationship to the two hands that always fought each other.Right now, the president wanted to throw his shoe at John’s face.
"Ahem, before we start the meeting, lets first listen to a voice message." James coughed and signaled the two to look in his direction. Then he raised his eyebrows at the old opposition John before he put the smartphone on the president’s desk.
It was a recorded interrogation.
The voice of the interrogator was low and slightly stiff. It was hard to make out the voice, but the person being interrogated was clear to distinguish.
Griss, CIB’s elite agent. The president had personally awarded him an honorary emblem.
But the super warrior that survived through the chaos in Iraq had no life in his voice. Rather than wry, it was more accurate to describe as completely hollow.
What kind of torture did the General Staff Department use to force the tough man to confess the entire mission details in two short hours? Just be listening to the voice without any life in it, the three in the president office felt a horrific chill.
The recording ended.
John took a deep breath and loosened his tie in discomfort. The president’s face looked gloomy.
Even though his legs remained on the desk, he did not say a single word.
Seeing the two didn’t say anything, James smiled and spoke out.
"Kidnapping and threaten a lawful businessman is despicable and unconstitutional. Disregarding the fact that your people took the constitution seriously, with the severity of this mission, could I consider this as the biggest mistake that occurred in your history?"
"Please mind your words, Mr. James, I’m considering the interest of the nation," John argued back out of habit, but there was no confidence in his voice at all.
"Is that so? But what about now? There are more odds in our diplomatic relationship with Han and they caught us with our pants down. We could have used a mild method to drag the Han businessman over to our side. Where do you think the CIB agent is conducting the mission, Syria? Iraq? God, that is Hua."
John looked awkward, so he diverted the topic.
"James, I don’t think it is appropriate for you to demonstrate your cheerful attitude in this setting."
"No, who said I’m cheerful, I’m furious." James resisted the urge to laugh as he rubbed his upper lip.
"No, you are laughing."
"It is your illusion, Mr. John."
"Both of you, shut up," The president suddenly spoke out.
Like two chickens fighting, John looked at James aggressively, but James at an advantage only shrugged and looked at the president with a pleasant smile.
"Now, let’s discuss how we are going to fix this thing," The president deeply inhaled and said gloomily.
"First, we should think of a plan to rescue the twenty-something agents back. Since Griss was interrogated, then at least it meant that they didn’t die because of crossfire, but were rather captured," John tried his best to calm down and slowly explained the situation.
"But till this moment, Hua didn’t comment on this incident. Should I call over and admit our mistake? And beg them to release the prisoner?" The President was instantly furious.
John’s expression suddenly turned awkward again as he shrugged with thick skin.
"Then write twenty-five copies of the honorary letters and send it to the family of the missing warriors."
The president rubbed his weary forehead before he sat up from the chair.
"James, where is the recording from?"
"The email appeared two hours ago in one of my subordinates' mailbox. Realizing the severity of the situation, he immediately sent the file to me," James said delightfully.
"What’s the validity of the file?"
"We conducted voice analysis with Griss’ voice, it matched perfectly.
"Mhmm." The President only nodded.
"Let’s think how to take care of the aftermath. Since the conflict… already occurred," John rubbed his nose and said uncomfortably.
With the way John looked, the president almost wanted to curse at him.
[Fu*k, you don’t tell me before you execute the mission, and now I have to wipe your butt when there is a problem.]
But he only said it in his mind and not out loud.
He deliberated for a while before the president spoke out.
"Immediately stop the interference with Dragon II; the mission failed."
John nodded. James who was primarily responsible for domestic intelligence shrugged as it didn’t concern him.
"If Hua denounces us on this… we’ll send the delegation team. If Hua doesn't comment on this… we likely won’t get them out. If we can, just send some more agents. Remember, don’t get caught again," The President said while massaging his forehead.
John was grateful for the fact that the President’s promised to visit Hua. He nodded again.
A visit to Hua meant pleading. As long as they could save the twenty-something people, John would face significantly less pressure.
As to the Han businessman, the President already forgot about him.
Compared to just a businessman, it was more important to wipe the butt of the CIB.
And it was just a Dragon II drone system, the talented UA didn’t need it at all.
_Min_ _Min_
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